CFY is a nonprofit organization that runs the nationally acclaimed online learning platform, PowerMyLearning.com. The platform provides students, teachers, parents and school leaders with instructional tools and free online access to pre-screened digital learning activities for students— engaging academic games, instructional videos, interactive simulations and more—that have been created by software developers large and small and are aligned to Common Core Standards.

“We are proud to partner with CFY on this project to bring greater and more effective use of technology to the students who need it most,” said Stacey Childress, deputy director of education at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “CFY has a strong track record of helping public schools in low-income communities innovate to provide all students—especially low-income and students of color—with the opportunity to realize their full potential.”

With these new grants, CFY will be able to:

1. Make PowerMyLearning.com the go-to source for digital learning for students, teachers and parents nationwide.
2. Provide teachers and parents with more content, search tools and features to help them personalize learning according to each student’s needs. For example, with support from the grants, the site will offer them the ability to build, assign and share customized playlists, rate activities and understand how, when and how often students are using the site for learning.
3. Help educators and parents understand which of the online learning activities are most useful in improving student achievement by developing a framework to measure student outcomes over time and make that information available to users.

“This investment will allow CFY to build on our track record of evaluating digital learning activities, which has been key to our efforts to help educators, students and parents improve educational outcomes over the last 10 years,” said Elisabeth Stock, CEO and co-founder of CFY. “PowerMyLearning.com is already generating terrific feedback from students, parents, teachers and administrators, and is being used in more than 100 schools in low-income communities nationwide. We are grateful for the support from the Gates, Broad and Kellogg foundations.”

The web-based PowerMyLearning.com platform was developed in 2010, drawing on CFY’s decade of experience identifying and delivering educational software to parents, teachers and students through CFY’s technology access and training initiative, the Digital Learning Program. Through the Digital Learning Program, families receive broadband-ready home computers pre-loaded with educational software, and students, parents and teachers are trained to use digital learning to create powerful learning opportunities in class, after school and in the home. More than two-thirds of families served have annual incomes of $35,000 or less, and approximately 90 percent of the students are either black or Hispanic, with about half from Spanish-speaking homes.

“We are very excited about PowerMyLearning.com’s potential to offer more equitable opportunities for digital learning in low-income communities and communities of color to improve student learning,” said Arelis Diaz, program officer at the Kellogg Foundation. “In my prior role as a school district leader, I have seen the promise of CFY’s platform, and I’m delighted that the foundation is making this investment.”

Among the results CFY has achieved to date:

1. Promising student academic results. The Digital Learning Program had a statistically significant impact on standardized math test scores, according to a study by Educational Testing Service (ETS).
2. Students engaged and motivated to learn more, at home and in the classroom. In a recent CFY survey, 80 percent of parents reported that participating children watched less television and instead spent that time learning on the computer. In addition, a CFY comparison study found that participating students made a greater effort to learn in the classroom as reported by their teachers.
3. Teachers better able to personalize learning and extend learning time. Teachers can easily find and use digital learning activities that are aligned to the Common Core Standards using PowerMyLearning.com. The platform is also designed to help teachers improve student learning inside and outside the classroom by incorporating digital learning into homework and lesson plans. Teachers can also create customized playlists to personalize learning according to individual student needs.
4. Broad impact. CFY has served more than 50,000 students and their families nationwide to date, including 17,000 new families last year.

“When parents and teachers can quickly find free learning activities that they know are effective—amidst the thousands of learning resources that are currently available on- and off-line—it is possible for them to help students make major learning breakthroughs,” said Luis de la Fuente, director at The Broad Foundation. “The PowerMyLearning.com platform may become the most important site yet for teachers and parents looking for quality online learning resources.”

ABOUT CFY

CFY is a national nonprofit that helps low-income students, together with their teachers and families, harness the power of digital learning to improve educational outcomes. CFY pursues this mission through the combination of its innovative K-12 learning platform, PowerMyLearning.com, and its on-the-ground direct service initiative, the CFY Digital Learning Program. To date, CFY has served more than 50,000 families and more than 100 schools in low-income communities nationwide, and has demonstrated significant impact on student achievement, student engagement, parental confidence and broadband adoption. To extend the impact of its work nationally, CFY operates an Affiliate Network of over 30 organizations in more than 20 states and the District of Columbia. The organization was founded in 1999 as Computers for Youth and recently changed its name to CFY. On the web at www.cfy.org.

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. In developing countries, it focuses on improving people’s health with vaccines and other life-saving tools and giving them the chance to lift themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty. In the United States, it seeks to significantly improve education so that all young people have the opportunity to reach their full potential. Based in Seattle, Washington, the foundation is led by CEO Jeff Raikes and Co-chair William H. Gates Sr., under the direction of Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett.

Founded by self-made entrepreneur Eli Broad and his wife Edythe, both graduates of Detroit Public Schools, The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation is a philanthropy that seeks to ensure that every student in an urban public school has the opportunity to succeed. Bringing together top education experts and practitioners, the foundation funds system-wide programs and policies that strengthen public schools by creating environments that allow good teachers to do great work and enable students of all backgrounds to learn and thrive.

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF), founded in 1930 as an independent, private foundation by breakfast cereal pioneer, Will Keith Kellogg, is among the largest philanthropic foundations in the United States. Guided by the belief that all children should have an equal opportunity to thrive, WKKF works with communities to create conditions for vulnerable children so they can realize their full potential in school, work and life. The Kellogg Foundation is based in Battle Creek, Mich., and works throughout the United States and internationally, as well as with sovereign tribes. Special emphasis is paid to priority places where there are high concentrations of poverty and where children face significant barriers to success. WKKF priority places in the U.S. are in Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico and New Orleans; and internationally, are in Mexico and Haiti. For more information, visit www.wkkf.org.

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Contact:
Jessica Eliav
tel: 212-563-7300 ext. 170
email: jeliav@cfy.org

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About Inspire   |   Sponsor Inspire 2012   |   History   |   Contact Us

Inspire 2011

Event Chair

Gary Price
Managing Partner
PwC Atlanta Market

Inspire 2011 Family of the Year

Sweetwater Middle school seventh grader Godffrey Ogboro (far right) and his family were the proud recipients of the Inspire 2011 Family of the Year Award.

Accepting the award, Godffrey and his mother had the opportunity to read their winning letters about how CFY’s program helped both Godffrey and the entire family academically.  Godffrey reflected that  “the games and activities were fun and they helped me relax my brain in the right way. My grades in Language Arts improved from C to B. This [CFY home learning center] is a very useful device to me and that is why I am happy I participated in the CFY workshop.” Click here to read Godffrey’s letter.

Godffrey’s mother, Grace, also read her essay, and encouraged CFY to “continue this project because it helped my family tremendously and I know it will help more families out there struggling with their children with developing good learning habits and getting their grades up in school.”  Click here to read Mrs. Ogboro’s letter.

Ron Ruiter Award for Volunteer of the Year

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Inspire 2010

Hosted by CFY-Atlanta’s 2010 Board of Directors

Judi Vitale, Chair, President
Vitale CFO Consulting

Robert Annas, Managing Director
Navigant Capital Advisors, LLC

Becky Blalock, Senior VP/CIO
Southern Company

Mike Casey, Partner
Marketing Matters, LLC

Armando Cuevas, VP/CIO
Engenius Consulting Group

Susan Greger, Senior IT Director
Georgia-Pacific

Bob Hudson, Director, IT
Intel Americas

Scott Saltmarsh, Director, Advisory Services
KPMG LLP

Esat Sezer, CIO
Coca-Cola Enterprises

Greg Talsky, Public Sector Manager
Cisco Systems, Inc.

Inspire 2010 Family of the Year

Jean Childs Young Middle School seventh grader  Alexandria Wilson, along with mother Lisa Wilson, were honored as the Inspire 2010 Family of the Year. The Wilson’s winning letters speak to their shared commitment to improve Alexandria’s academic success and  continue learning together.

As Alexandria shared her story with those attending Inspire, she commented: “One day I came home and my mom surprised me with showing me how to calculate the math formulas. She learned everything from Help Math on my computer. At first it was hard, but she was patient and went over the problems with me a couple of times until I got it, then we moved on to another one… I’m proud of my mom for learning my math and I’m thankful for her patience to teach me.” Click here to read Alexandra Wilson’s letter.

Ms. Wilson shared her initial anxiety, saying “there was no way I could remember how to do that math again” but realized that by using the CFY home learning center with its educational software, she didn’t have to. Ms. Wilson elaborated on this sentiment, stating “CFY has not only been a tutor for us, it also created a bond with us over our math anxieties.” Click here to read Lisa Wilson’s letter.

Ron Ruiter Award for Volunteer of the Year

The inaugural Ron Ruiter Award for Volunteer of the Year was introduced at Inspire 2010 in memory of Mr. Ron Ruiter, a true CFY-Atlanta star volunteer who passed away unexpectedly earlier in the year. The award was presented in dedication to the spirit of service embodied by Mr. Ruiter during his lifetime, and recognizes exceptional individuals for their enthusiastic commitment and many contributions to CFY’s important work.

Ms. Sheila Cobble, from Coca-Cola Enterprises, was honored as the recipient of the inaugural award. Her dedication in attending nearly every Family Learning Workshop during 2010, tireless enthusiasm, recruitment of new volunteers, and volunteer leadership continues to be an inspiration to others.

About Inspire   |   Sponsor Inspire 2012   |   History   |   Contact Us

History of Inspire

Inspire began four years ago as a small intimate gathering in the home of CFY-Atlanta’s Executive Director.  Now in its fifth year, we invite you to view the Chairs, Hosts, Family of the Year Award winner, Event Videos and Sponsors from previous years.  CFY-Atlanta is grateful for the continued growth and success of our signature event, and thank our many supporters for helping keep the momentum going!

Inspire 2011
September 28, 2011

Inspire 2010
October 13, 2010

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Help make Inspire 2012 a huge success!

Sponsorship Opportunities

Join our growing list of 2012 sponsors! Whether you participate as a Diamond, Platinum, or Gold sponsor, your organization will receive a number of benefits recognizing your support. In addition, over 85% of sponsorship dollars directly support CFY-Atlanta’s Digital Learning Program and help CFY-Atlanta continue to make a positive impact on education within our community.

Click here to download the Inspire 2012 sponsorship kit.

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Friday, September 28, 2012
7:00pm to 10:00pm
by invitation only

Summerour Studio
409 Bishop Street NW
Atlanta, GA 30318

About Inspire

CFY-Atlanta’s annual Inspire event brings together community leaders, technology and business executives, educators, and CFY supporters for an intimate gathering to celebrate the year’s accomplishments.

Inspire 2012 promises to be another exceptional evening as we recognize the inspirational outcomes of families that have participated in our Digital Learning Program, the visionary teachers who have leveraged CFY’s program and PowerMyLearning.com to make learning more engaging, as well as the dedicated volunteers who help us deliver our quality program.

2012 Sponsors

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